The Future of Resumes: Are They Still Relevant? (Part II)

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In Part I of our series, we explored the historical evolution of resumes. Today, in Part II, we’ll dive into its current relevance, the role of cover letters, and what the future holds for these traditional application formats.

Let’s begin with cover letters.

The Cover Letter: Now More Important Than the Resume?

Cover letters have long been recognized as important application documents in their own right. An employer survey published in 1979 suggested that recruiters expected the cover letter to complement the information in the resume rather than simply repeating it. They also strongly preferred brevity (no more than one page) and correct grammar and reported a general aversion toward pushy or exaggerated language, despite the growing popularity of the “hard sell” approach at the time. Largely, these recommendations still hold up today.

A recent review of academic research on cover letters confirmed them as an important part of a candidate’s introduction to potential employers. The research also recommended “modest confidence” as the most appropriate strategy. Despite declaring that “resumes are canceled,” another author agreed that “cover letters are often found by recruiters to be a more reliable source of determining whether or not the applicant is worth an interview.” The argument is that cover letters are more specifically tailored to each job and are simply more engaging and interesting for human readers.

While few people would dispute that point, many new tools available to recruiters means that many application documents may never even be read by a human. This brings us to the question of whether traditional application formats have any future. 

What Is the Outlook for Resumes?

In an engaging piece for Workable, former Economist writer Daniel Howden explained that while some voices were declaring the resume “hopelessly outdated” as long ago as the 1980s, “it has proven harder to kill than almost anyone anticipated.”

This sums up the current situation nicely. Resumes do not really do what we need them to anymore, but they are so well established that we rely on them anyway. Despite this persistence, as recently as 2022, one academic review observed, “There is no consensus on what makes a good resume, and many scholars will offer opinions and conflicting evidence.”

Perhaps this highlights a significant issue with resumes. It is not automatically clear exactly what information applicants should include or what information employers can expect to find. This is especially problematic given the increasing use of AI to screen resumes as an initial step in the selection process.

In other words, if many resumes are never even viewed by a human reader, surely this defeats their original purpose as a candidate’s introduction to prospective employers? And if recruiters only spend an average of six seconds on each one that they do view, how can it realistically serve that intended purpose? Any effort by candidates to craft a resume that is distinctive or stands out from the crowd, visually or in terms of the content, can confound the accuracy of AI screening and will make little impression on a recruiter in such a short space of time.

While employers certainly need some kind of professional summary to evaluate job applicants and prospective employees, the resume may not be the best option anymore. We are witnessing a growing movement declaring it obsolete; a relic of the past that has no place in today’s world of social media, video communications, and innovations such as blockchain technology that allow recruiters to access validated information on any prospective employee, anywhere, at any time.

Platforms like LinkedIn also provide recruiters with “social proof” of applicant experience and skills, helping them validate the candidate’s suitability for a role more thoroughly than before. Resumes are also ill-equipped for the current trend toward skills-based hiring, where a typical listing of previous job titles and roles may not give employers the information they need.

Instead, proponents of ditching resumes argue that pre-employment testing and assessment are more valuable for recruiters because over half of candidates lie on their resumes anyway. In 2021, the CEO of Recruit (which owns Glassdoor and Indeed) similarly advocated for an assessment-based approach, and bluntly declared that resumes were outdated (at least, for many industries).

So, Where Does All This Leave Us Today?

It is certainly true that the resume played an important role in the past. For a long time, it was the best means of introduction to prospective employers, but that assumption may not hold today.

From an increasing diversity perspective, this may especially be the case for marginalized groups. For many years, studies have consistently shown hiring bias (for example, by race or ethnicity) based on information shared in resumes or other application documents.

As recruiters, it is important to consider what resumes can still do for us. We should not use them if there are better alternatives for the roles we are recruiting for. On the other hand, we should only do away with them if we are sure we can replace them with something that works better. It is important to stress that AI-based methods are not always the answer. There is plenty of evidence that algorithmic hiring can introduce unintended bias. However, it seems that pre-employment assessments are a more promising solution. They are growing in popularity and may well achieve more widespread adoption in the future.

Whatever the situation in your organization, I encourage you to discuss if and how you should move beyond resumes (assuming you have not already done so), and carefully monitor any resulting changes to ensure they do not introduce new forms of bias into the recruitment process.

In a Nutshell

All in all, while resumes have played a crucial role in job applications for many years, their relevance in today’s digital age is increasingly questioned. As we explore new methods like pre-employment assessments and leverage platforms like LinkedIn, it's vital to ensure that these changes benefit all candidates, particularly those from marginalized groups. As recruiters, we must consider whether resumes are still the best tool for evaluating applicants and remain open to alternatives that might better serve our needs. What do you think?

JOIN US IN THE COMMENTS: Have you seen a changing role for resumes in recent years where you work? Has your organization successfully managed to mitigate bias by using alternative forms of evaluation? If anything in this article particularly spoke to you, we would very much like to know your thoughts.